How Food is Failing Us Today
We’re in a sad state when a fictitious magazine character recognizes the disparity between our diets and our lifestyles before we do. That was the case recently when Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman said, “We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.”
The trend of adding natural ingredients to chemical products, while simultaneously removing them from our diet, is alarming. Now more than ever, people are looking for ways to cut corners and save a little money. However, the food that you feed your family is not the budget area to do this. When we substitute natural foods for convenience foods or processed foods with artificial ingredients, we are setting ourselves up for disaster.
Food is intended to fuel our bodies with the substances we need for energy, strength and general sustenance, but the eating habits of today are a far cry from meeting these requirements. In spite of more than 1 billion overweight adults around the world, many of us continue to fill our bodies with empty calories. Our daily diets are over-saturated with saturated fats, refined sugars and processed foods, leading to a plethora of health concerns like diabetes, high blood pressure and fatigue, among others.
Though our modern meals are contributing to making us overweight, many of us are also not getting the essentials we need. By eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, we receive the energy to get through our day without crashing or craving unhealthy snacks. When processed foods are the staple, our bodies don’t get key nutrients like fiber or calcium, leading to malnutrition and other health concerns.
Over the long run, the time and money that convenience and fast foods were supposed to save us end up being put toward healthcare costs. Treatment of chronic illnesses as a result of poor nutrition takes its toll on us both physically and financially, in the form of medical bills and stressed bodies.
If life gives you lemons, don’t make furniture polish—make lemonade! It’s time we start taking our health more seriously by creating real meals with natural and organic foods. Let’s create traditions of health starting in our own kitchens.
For a variety of organic and gluten-free baking mixes to get you started on your way to a healthier lifestyle, or to continue your already organic ways, check out Truly Organic Baking’s online produce store by visiting www.trulyorganicbaking.com.
